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Are We Afraid Of The Dark?

5-year old Johnny came into the kitchen as his mom was making supper. She politely asked him to go into the pantry and grab a can of tomato soup. The problem was, this request required him to walk in the darkest and scariest part of the house. “Mom, it’s dark in there and I’m scared.” “It’s alright,” she replied, “Jesus will be in there with you.” So, Johnny slowly and hesitantly walked to the door and cracked it open. “Hey, Jesus?” Johnny called, “If you’re in there, can you please hand me that can of tomato soup?”

To one degree or another, the dark is scary and uncomfortable at any age. Interestingly, the older and more experienced we become with darkness, the easier it is to cope with the fear of it. This is just as true spiritually as it is physically. If we’re not careful, we can travel into such deep darkness that we end up “loving the darkness” and “hating the light” (John 3:19-20). If we stay in this darkness, we can reach a shady place where people have become so used to the dark that they have “forgotten how to blush” (Jeremiah 6:15). It’s even possible to be so enveloped in darkness that we reach the same point the people in Noah’s day did — “every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually” (Genesis 6:5). If we ever get to the point to where we are comfortable with spiritual darkness, this is when we should be the most scared of it. This is so scary because not only does this darkness threaten our salvation, but we’ve become comfortable with that fact!

Thankfully, there is always hope. Jesus can rescue us from this “domain of darkness” and transfer us to the light (Colossians 1:13). If we are willing to stop walking in darkness and begin walking in the light, God has promised us He will cleanse us of all our sins (1 John 1:5-7). If we continue in this light, we can have the hope of being in heaven one day, a place where there is no darkness or night (Revelation 21:25).

It is not wrong at all to be afraid of the dark. In fact, spiritually speaking it’s good to be alarmed by the darkness. Nearly everything on earth needs light to survive. Without light, there would be no life on earth. The same is true in the spiritual sense. Apart from the light there is no spiritual life (John 8:12). Let make sure we stay in the light!

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One thought on “Are We Afraid Of The Dark?”

Ummm…I’m still afraid of the dark. I use our bathroom light as a nightlight! But thanks for bringing it home. I thought something was wrong with me the other day at some news story (take your pick) and my heart just became so heavy and sad. I felt like crying and didn’t understand why. For that matter, I’ve heard worse things and yet the other day, I just felt so sad at the darkness in our world. But I’m it won’t stay like this for always.